Qaeda-Linked Group Claims Responsibility for Syrian Blasts

Medics carried a child who was hurt on Tuesday in government shelling of areas of Aleppo, Syria, that are controlled by the rebels. Scores were reported dead in fighting around the country.

Πηγή: New York Times
By ANNE BARNARD and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Oct. 9 2012

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A jihadist insurgent group that Western intelligence officials have linked to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a multiple bombing by suicide attackers who struck an intelligence compound on the outskirts of Damascus overnight. It was the second major assault that the group has claimed to have carried out against a government facility in a Syrian urban center in about a week.

The group, Al Nusra Front for the People of the Levant, posted a statement on the Internet with details of what it called a three-stage attack on a compound run by a branch of the air force intelligence service in Harasta, on the edge of Damascus. It released a video showing nighttime blasts that it said were set off by vehicles packed with explosives.

The number of casualties from the attack was not known, and the Syrian state news media did not immediately report on it. On Oct. 3, the same group posted a statement on a Web site affiliated with Al Qaeda that claimed responsibility for explosions in the embattled northern city of Aleppo that killed dozens of people in areas held by the government, including an officers’ club.

The attacks have highlighted a worrisome theme in the Syrian conflict, in which Sunni extremist groups like the Nusra Front, some of which are suspected of having links to Al Qaeda, are claiming responsibility for deadly attacks on government targets, including suicide bombings, with increasing frequency. While the main opposition fighting force, the Free Syrian Army, has denied any ties to such groups, their presence has strengthened President Bashar al-Assad’s argument that the nearly 19-month-old uprising is being orchestrated by terrorists.

The Nusra Front gave details about the operation in the Damascus area, like the name of the man who drove the car laden with what it said was nine tons of explosives in the first stage of the operation. Twenty-five minutes later, another man drove an ambulance laden with explosives to the scene, to kill those remaining or coming to assist, the group said. Shelling followed.

Fighting was also reported on Tuesday in other areas, including Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and Deir al-Zour, in eastern Syria. The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition group, said in its daily tally of violence that at least 115 people had been killed and that in Maaret al-Nouman, in Idlib Province, the Free Syrian Army had captured more than 40 government troops and seized weapons. Casualty claims by antagonists in the Syria conflict are often difficult to confirm because of restrictions on independent news reporting there.

The latest violence came as the Syrian military continued to divert some forces and firepower to face escalating tensions on its border with Turkey, a NATO member. On Monday, Syrian Army gunners exchanged artillery blasts with their Turkish counterparts across the frontier for the sixth consecutive day.

The exchange of fire has raised concerns that the conflict will ignite a broader crisis in the region. On Tuesday, the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, emphasized that NATO, which considers an attack on one member to be an attack on all, had “all necessary plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary.”

But Mr. Rasmussen also made it clear that he had no desire to embroil NATO in the conflict.

While most Syrian insurgents are members of the country’s Sunni majority, many of them defectors from the military, much of the Alawite minority, which Mr. Assad belongs to, remains intensely loyal to him. Nonetheless, recent signs of fracturing have surfaced in his Alawite base, including unconfirmed reports of deadly clashes last weekend in his ancestral home, Qardaha, a village in Latakia Province, which borders Turkey.

In another possible signal of Alawite ambivalence about Mr. Assad’s political leadership, opposition figures in Syria and in neighboring Jordan said that as many as seven high-ranking Alawite military and intelligence officers had defected in recent days, with some saying they had entered Jordan.

Greece and Russia rally behind Cyprus

The National Guard showed off its wares yesterday for Independence Day

Πηγή: Cyprus Mail
By Jean Christou

Oct 2 2011

GREECE AND Russia rallied behind Cyprus yesterday in the island’s rights to explore for hydrocarbons in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and to condemn Turkish threats as the Cyprus Republic turned 51.

Greek Minister of National Defence Panos Beglitis, who attended yesterday’s parade, told reporters: “We are in close cooperation with Cyprus’ leadership, we are watching Turkey’s actions very closely, in a composed and decisive manner and I would like once again to denounce statements often made by the Turkish political leadership, as well as the policies followed.”

Russian Ambassador to Cyprus Vyacheslav Shumskiy said Moscow’s position was “absolutely clear” on the issue. “We were among the first countries to comment on that, and we totally support the sovereign right of the Cypriot people for exploitation of natural resources , this is totally in accordance with the international law and with the EU regulations, so there is no doubt about that,” he said.

The comments came amid increasing reports of military activity around the area of Block 12 within the Cyprus EEZ where American company Noble Energy has begun drilling.

Also the New York Times reported that NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, had expressed disquiet about tensions over natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean between a newly assertive Turkey and Cyprus, as well as Turkey’s strained relations with Israel, saying that they were both “a matter of concern.”

Rasmussen said he did not foresee the tension turning into conflict, and he praised Turkey as an indispensable member of NATO that could be “a bridge” between the West and the Arab countries now engaged in revolts.

“Obviously the tensions between Turkey and Israel are a matter of concern,” he said in an interview in Brussels. “It’s a bilateral issue, NATO is not going to interfere with that,” he added, “but it is the interest of the alliance to see these tensions eased, because Turkey is a key ally and Israel is a valuable partner for the alliance.”

Asked about Turkey’s warning that it might send military ships toward Cyprus, Rasmussen said that “NATO as an organization is not going to interfere with these disputes,” while adding, “I do not envisage armed conflict in the eastern part of the Mediterranean.”

Yesterday local daily Phileleftheros reported that Turkey planned to escalate its activities in and around the Nicosia Flight Information region (FIR) with a series of military night-time “search and rescue” exercises stretching between Akrotiri – south of Limassol - and Noble’s rig the Homer Ferrington, which is around 160 km off the coast.

The paper also said that Israel was monitoring the Turkish moves with unmanned drones circling the drilling area.

Meanwhile under the headline “The Russians are coming’, daily Politis yesterday said the Russian aircraft carrier ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ was expected in the eastern Mediterranean region next month.

An officer of the Russian fleet, speaking to the ITAR-Tass news agency reportedly said that the aircraft would arrive in the region on November 19 for three months, carrying with it a large number of Russian fighters. A submarine was also mentioned for “patrol purposes” as part of exercises with other countries in the area. Politis said the arrival of the Russians coincided with the expected announcement by Noble of its initial drilling results.

Asked yesterday about the possible visit by the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russian ambassador Shumskiy said he had no such information but would be available to comment once he was briefed.

“This is news to me, I don't have anything official about that, absolutely nothing, so far it’s news to me,” he said.

Shumskiy did say he thought Turkey’s stance was not a “wise one”, although he added that he did not see the situation becoming “hot”.

President Demetris Christofias yesterday repeated that Cyprus’ sovereignty was non-negotiable and that the Republic would not consider any form of arbitration or mediation in exploration issue.

He did however extend a comment to the Turkish Cypriots, saying that a discovery of oil and gas would be a “blessing” for the entire peoples of Cyprus. He urged that the matter become a catalyst for a Cyprus solution rather than an obstacle.

Christofias attended the parade, along with Archbishop Chrysostomos as well as Greek National Defence Minister Panos Beglitis, and diplomats.

The day was not without incident however when a small group from the ‘Indignant’ protesting against the Mari blast events tried to approach the officials’ platform, and clashed with the police.

“Police members tried to stop this group… one of them tried to break through the police barrier. A police officer tried to stop him and in doing so the member of the public fell on the ground and claimed he was hit by police,” spokesperson Michalis Katsounotos said.

The report into the Mari blast compiled by investigator Polys Polyviou, comes out tomorrow.